TV Show review
Review basis: 4 seasons, 40 episodes · through March 16, 2023
November 28, 2019 · TV-MA · Ended
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
Servant is a four-season Apple TV+ series about a wealthy Philadelphia couple shattered by the accidental death of their infant son. The wife suffers a breakdown and they use a lifelike reborn doll as therapy while hiring a mysterious young nanny who moves into their home. Strange, creepy, and increasingly supernatural events follow as family secrets, grief, and tension build. The story stays focused on personal psychological horror, delusion, marriage strain, and mystery with no visible identity politics, diversity signaling in lead roles, or activist messaging across any season.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Servant.
Woke representation / casting
Prominent lead roles use white actors consistent with the affluent Philadelphia family setting and story logic; supporting diversity exists in secondary parts but stays incidental without audience-visible signaling, quota emphasis, or competence mismatches.
Woke political dialogue
No activist speeches, identity lectures, or modern social justice dialogue; conversations stay personal, emotional, and tied to grief, family conflict, and mystery.
Identity-driven story themes
Core elements involve grief, mental delusion, marital rift, class friction with live-in help, and supernatural/religious undertones from the nanny’s background; no central plots or arcs driven by race, gender identity, sexuality, or systemic identity critiques.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Subtle looks at affluent secular lifestyles, therapy reliance for trauma, and family denial appear as personal psychological drama rather than activist attacks on patriarchy, capitalism, traditional norms, or Western institutions.
Production
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. Original story with no established characters, canon, or historical figures altered for identity or DEI reasons.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
No meaningful public or media complaints treat the series as pushing woke, DEI, or identity politics; reactions stay centered on horror effectiveness and storytelling.
Creator track record context
Key figures like Tony Basgallop and M. Night Shyamalan show story-driven careers in psychological and genre work with minimal activist history. Julia Ducournau history adds to the score. Overall team patterns remain low on identity or political advocacy.
